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Haven (VTM)
A haven is the residence and intimate domain of a vampire, where they slumber during the day and may labor during the waking night. Overview By necessity, havens generally are secret locations or at least highly secure (ideally both), otherwise the vampire runs the risk of exposure or destruction at the hands of witch-hunters or rivals – or, worse still, the resident might become the victim of diablerie. Many vampires keep their ghouls or other retainers close by, to watch over their slumber, especially if other Kindred know the site to be a vampire's haven. In Vampire: the Masquerade, havens are not normally directly represented via game mechanics. The nature of a vampire's haven is usually assumed to be representative of his Resources, Domain, Status, and other social traits. The haven may represented by a traditional one-to-five-dot Background (as depicted in the book Havens of the Damned), or may be represented or modified by certain Merits if using the optional system of Merits and Flaws. Unusual Havens * Chantries - The strongholds, libraries, and occult workshops of the Tremere. Not all chantries serve as regular havens for the Warlocks who are headquartered there; some will instead spend their days in personal havens nearby. The notable exception is the chantry's Regent, who will almost always dwell in the most secure portion of the chantry's heart; the same holds true for any higher-ranking members of the clan's Pyramid. Likewise, the Gargoyle slaves who still serve the Tremere will rarely make their havens beyond the chantry's walls unless specifically stationed elsewhere. * Communal havens - A haven shared collectively by a pack of Sabbat Cainites. A coven, or founded pack, holds a permanent haven in their city, as opposed to the nomadic packs that hold no fixed residence. Some larger cities, such as Montréal, hold communal havens expansive and secure enough to simultaneously shelter multiple packs – or even all of the city's Cainites. * Highway Havens - Portable havens, ranging from to sleeping bags. The term is often used ironically, as many "highway havens" aren't havens by any sense of the term except in the sense that they provide some reliable cover from the sun. These are most often used by mobile neonates with meager Resources to call upon, namely Anarchs. * Labyrinths - Sprawling underground havens, named for the Labyrinth at Knossos that was built by King Minos (who may himself have been a Toreador). Such labyrinths have become increasingly less common since the Dark Ages, as the modern world has less free space underground to build such elaborate personal havens, thanks both to the increasing Kindred population and to the expansion of underground train and sewage systems. Thus, in modern nights, the labyrinth has been largely supplanted by – or made synonymous with – the proliferation of warrens (see below). * Temples - Group havens of religious sects of vampires, such as the Followers of Set, the recently-vanished Children of Osiris, vampire faiths like the Cainite Heresy or the Bahari, or other, more obscure blood cults . As with chantries, those who worship here will often have primary residences elsewhere, though this was rarely the case with the obscure Children of Osiris. * Warrens - The havens and domain of a city's Nosferatu, which are often linked to one another via tunnels and catacombs known only to the Sewer Rats themselves. Warrens are often home to spawning pools, where vitae is pooled and Animalism utilized to create grotesquely overgrown, fiercely loyal ghoul guardians from subterranean animals – or from animals that are not traditionally found beneath the city streets, such as crocodiles. A city's warrens will sometimes be referred to collectively as the "Nosferatu Kingdom" Notable Havens * Hunedoara Castle * Temple of Eternal Whispers * Winchester Mystery House * Traveler Rest Hotel * The Local * The Glass House * Downstairs Downtown * The House of Storms * Guardian Lakes Country Club * The Elevator and the Arrow * Zatopek Farms * The Legend of Sensual Secrets * The Venetian * Gatekeeper's Hold * The House that Fear Built * [[CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson|CVN-70 USS Carl Vinson]] * Chattanooga Recreational Center Gallery Nosferatu Haven.jpg|Nosferatu warrens Havens of the Damned.jpg|From Havens of the Damned. Art by Jim Nelson Temple of Eternal Whispers.jpg|The schematics of the Temple of Eternal Whispers References * * Category:Vampire: The Masquerade glossary